Traditional Medicine

Most people "into" alternative therapies are not aimlessly looking for the fountain of youth. They're just investigating ways to enhance their health. As a family physician, I try to do the same with traditional medicine. However, many people prefer alternative treatments, and it doesn't surprise me. Many traditional physicians are not the best of role models in terms of lifestyles, health habits or spirituality. Many of us are so disillusioned with our own career that it's evident in our communication styles.

Question: My neighbors are the nicest people around, but they are both grossly overweight and on multiple medications for high blood pressure, diabetes and other conditions. Their children are heading the same way, but they seem to act as if there are no problems. I've tried to gently point this out but don't want to jeopardize our friendship. Why can't they see this? Answer: Denial. As the tongue-in-cheek saying goes: "It ain't just a river in Egypt." Denial is amazing. It allows us to stare incontrovertible facts in the face and then act as though they don't exist.

PARAMARIBO, Suriname -- China will help Suriname develop the field of traditional medicine under a deal announced Wednesday by the South American country's government. Chinese authorities will teach local researchers how to catalog traditional medicines and organize practitioners. In exchange, Suriname will allow Chinese researchers to study plants used locally in traditional medicine. Homemade remedies are used by many in Suriname, particularly the Maroons -- descendants of African slaves -- and Amerindians, who have a wide range of medicines made mostly from plants found in the country's dense rain forest.

`I wish you could see their faces," says Jeanne Miller-Clark. "They're glowing." Such is the effect on visitors of a trip through a winding labyrinth at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. And it's a sight Miller-Clark sees daily as manager of the Mind/Body/Spirit Center at Orlando Regional Healthcare. An ancient healing tool -- a twisting path that resembles a maze -- is just one of the ways Miller-Clark's center helps patients, caregivers and visitors think more clearly, reconnect with themselves and shed stress.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- About 2,000 baboon noses were found in an abandoned suitcase at an Amsterdam airport after they started to stink, officials said Wednesday. The noses were en route from Lagos to the United States, apparently intended for an immigrant market. Baboon noses are used in traditional medicine in parts of Asia and Africa.

Most of the time, the people who write the laws for the most populous county in the Pacific Northwest talk about tax increments and zoning variances. But for a few days over the last year, those people, the King County Council, have been rhapsodizing about garlic pills and the healing power of ginkgo tree extract.In voting to establish the nation's first government-subsidized natural-medicine clinic, the Republican-dominated council sounded like a therapy group discussing wonder cures.One member said he owed his good health to a dietary supplement of enzymes and vitamins.

A growing number of Americans are deciding that traditional medicine is not curing all of their ills and are turning to some form of alternative medicine while continuing to see their regular doctors.''Alternative medicine'' is an umbrella term for everything from acupuncture and herbal remedies to aroma therapy with Fritos to helppeople lose weight. Many of these therapies, while popular, have not been proven effective in rigorous scientific studies.With this in mind, the National Institutes of Health has allocated $2 million to the new Office for the Study of Unconventional Medical Practices.

Question: My neighbors are the nicest people around, but they are both grossly overweight and on multiple medications for high blood pressure, diabetes and other conditions. Their children are heading the same way, but they seem to act as if there are no problems. I've tried to gently point this out but don't want to jeopardize our friendship. Why can't they see this? Answer: Denial. As the tongue-in-cheek saying goes: "It ain't just a river in Egypt." Denial is amazing. It allows us to stare incontrovertible facts in the face and then act as though they don't exist.

With health-care reform on the horizon, people are beginning to seek alternatives to traditional medicine and to look for ways to take control of their health.The pain had kept him out of work and barely able to get off the couch. After a one-hour acupuncture treatment, the Oviedo man left the clinic feeling better. Two days later, he was pain-free.''I don't know exactly how it worked, but my pain went away,'' Crawford said.Today, more people are trying acupuncture or know someone who has tried it and is eager to talk about the results.

When David Motlow went to Vietnam in 1968, he wore a small leather pouch filled with tobacco and other herbs around his neck.It was a medicine bag to protect him and to remind him that he was a Seminole Indian.Nine years after he came home, Motlow, who lives on the Big Cypress Reservation, believes an ancient, weeklong Indian ritual helped him put the war behind him.It is a rite that has been performed for centuries on Indian warriors after battle. And it is a rite that most Seminoles still undergo after returning from war. It helps avoid some problems other veterans endure when they come home, they say.''I guess if you're on the outside looking in, it's a little strange or a little different,'' he said.

PARAMARIBO, Suriname -- China will help Suriname develop the field of traditional medicine under a deal announced Wednesday by the South American country's government. Chinese authorities will teach local researchers how to catalog traditional medicines and organize practitioners. In exchange, Suriname will allow Chinese researchers to study plants used locally in traditional medicine. Homemade remedies are used by many in Suriname, particularly the Maroons -- descendants of African slaves -- and Amerindians, who have a wide range of medicines made mostly from plants found in the country's dense rain forest.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- About 2,000 baboon noses were found in an abandoned suitcase at an Amsterdam airport after they started to stink, officials said Wednesday. The noses were en route from Lagos to the United States, apparently intended for an immigrant market. Baboon noses are used in traditional medicine in parts of Asia and Africa.

Most people "into" alternative therapies are not aimlessly looking for the fountain of youth. They're just investigating ways to enhance their health. As a family physician, I try to do the same with traditional medicine. However, many people prefer alternative treatments, and it doesn't surprise me. Many traditional physicians are not the best of role models in terms of lifestyles, health habits or spirituality. Many of us are so disillusioned with our own career that it's evident in our communication styles.

QUESTION: I heard on the news that Benadryl is like alcohol and can impair driving. I've taken it on occasion for allergies. Do you think it's OK to drive while on it? R.M., Ocala ANSWER: No, it's not OK. Benadryl and alcohol affect the body in similar ways. In a recent test, drivers who took Benadryl were more impaired than drivers intoxicated with alcohol, although both did poorly. The active ingredient in Benadryl, diphenhydramine, is a sedative and is also the same ingredient in over-the-counter sleep aids such as Sominex and Unisom.

Medicine, in Lake County and across America, is being transformed. You can see it happening in both good and bad ways. There is a proliferation of glowing promises, from clamoring advertisements to Internet offers appealing to unwary seniors looking for a magic bullet for their ailments. For instance: ``With one little pill'' you can ``save your eyesight from cataracts'' and with a cup a week of another diet supplement you can ``slash your cancer risk.'' ``NATURAL CURES AND GENTLE MEDICINES,'' shouted the headline in one advertisement for a new book.

Most of the time, the people who write the laws for the most populous county in the Pacific Northwest talk about tax increments and zoning variances. But for a few days over the last year, those people, the King County Council, have been rhapsodizing about garlic pills and the healing power of ginkgo tree extract.In voting to establish the nation's first government-subsidized natural-medicine clinic, the Republican-dominated council sounded like a therapy group discussing wonder cures.One member said he owed his good health to a dietary supplement of enzymes and vitamins.

`I wish you could see their faces," says Jeanne Miller-Clark. "They're glowing." Such is the effect on visitors of a trip through a winding labyrinth at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. And it's a sight Miller-Clark sees daily as manager of the Mind/Body/Spirit Center at Orlando Regional Healthcare. An ancient healing tool -- a twisting path that resembles a maze -- is just one of the ways Miller-Clark's center helps patients, caregivers and visitors think more clearly, reconnect with themselves and shed stress.

Medicine, in Lake County and across America, is being transformed. You can see it happening in both good and bad ways. There is a proliferation of glowing promises, from clamoring advertisements to Internet offers appealing to unwary seniors looking for a magic bullet for their ailments. For instance: ``With one little pill'' you can ``save your eyesight from cataracts'' and with a cup a week of another diet supplement you can ``slash your cancer risk.'' ``NATURAL CURES AND GENTLE MEDICINES,'' shouted the headline in one advertisement for a new book.

With health-care reform on the horizon, people are beginning to seek alternatives to traditional medicine and to look for ways to take control of their health.The pain had kept him out of work and barely able to get off the couch. After a one-hour acupuncture treatment, the Oviedo man left the clinic feeling better. Two days later, he was pain-free.''I don't know exactly how it worked, but my pain went away,'' Crawford said.Today, more people are trying acupuncture or know someone who has tried it and is eager to talk about the results.

A growing number of Americans are deciding that traditional medicine is not curing all of their ills and are turning to some form of alternative medicine while continuing to see their regular doctors.''Alternative medicine'' is an umbrella term for everything from acupuncture and herbal remedies to aroma therapy with Fritos to helppeople lose weight. Many of these therapies, while popular, have not been proven effective in rigorous scientific studies.With this in mind, the National Institutes of Health has allocated $2 million to the new Office for the Study of Unconventional Medical Practices.